The best field of the young season on the PGA Tour is entered in this week's Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club outside Los Angeles - and that's without world No. 1 Tiger Woods.
Woods has never won this event in 11 career starts (nine as a pro), but 17 of the world's top 20 players are in L.A. (Woods is joined by only Ernie Els and Henrik Stenson on the sidelines.)
The field really gets its strength from the top European Tour members coming over to play, including Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Retief Goosen, Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia.
Scott makes his debut in the event that he won in 2005 after recently winning the European Tour Qatar Masters trophy with a final round 61. He is the second-favorite on WagerWeb.com at +900 for to win this week.
Scott is the best player under 30 in the world by far," swing coach Butch Harmon said of his protege. "He is the only one who can challenge Tiger Woods in the next four or five years.
Last year, Charles Howell III defeated Phil Mickelson in a playoff. Howell fired a 6-under 65 in the final round to come from three shots back and tie Mickelson in regulation at 16-under 268. After halving the first two holes, Nos. 18 and 10, with pars, Howell won on the par-3 14th. Howell, 27, was the third player in a row under the age of 30 to win the tournament.Howell's win also snapped a streak of four consecutive wins by international players in this event. He hasn't won since.
"Knowing that I have won on the golf course before is always a help going into a week. I am probably going into it a little more comfortable than otherwise," Howell said.
Both Howell and Mickelson are in the field this week - with Lefty the +400 favorite at WagerWeb.com even though he is coming off a missed cut at Pebble Beach.
"I love Riviera," Mickelson said. "I played well there last year and I putted the greens well last year. If I can just get something to turn, I feel like I'm striking it well. I feel like it'll be a good week."
Another player to watch is Rory Sabbatini, who is the third-favorite at WagerWeb.com. Sabbatini has three top-15 finishes in this event in his past four appearances, including a win in 2006. The South African is off to a strong start in 2008 - he finished second in the Sony Open in Hawaii and tied for third in the Buick Invitational.
Some other recent past champs entered are Mike Weir (2003-04), Len Mattiace (2002), Robert Allenby (2001) and Billy Mayfair (1998).
Of the last 15 winners at Riviera (1992-2007), 12 had one of their two best putting weeks of the season in their win. So driving distance may not play as big of a role as usual.
LPGA TOUR: The ladies begin their season in Hawaii with the SBS Open at Turtle Bay. Paula Creamer returns to defend her title, but only four of the top 10 and 12 of the top-20 players in the world rankings are in the field this week. World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa is not one of them, but reigning U.S. Women's Open champ Cristie Kerr and McDonald's LPGA Championship winner Suzann Pettersen are entered.
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